Thank You
by xXMethereaperXx
Summary: A request from lexboss.


Alright, this one's a request from lexboss. After some negotiating, here is the finished story.

I was pretty much given complete artistic freedom for this story, which kinda made it harder. I was never too good with other people's OC's, so if I don't explain it in the story, Lexy Watterson is a pink cat. She has a short bio on her profile.

The intro and title are from the musician Dido. I've had Eminem's Stan, which sampled the beat and intro as the chorus, stuck in my head since he released it, and I thought the original fit the mood of the story.

I don't know if this has been done a lot or not, but it's here for those who want to read it.

So, let's get started.

* * *

**Thank You**

_"My tea's gone cold, I'm wondering why  
__I got out of bed at all_

_The morning rain clouds up my window  
__And I can't see at all_

_And even if I could it'd all be grey,_

_But your picture on my wall  
It reminds me that it's not so bad  
_

_It's not so bad"_

- Dido

**[][][]**

It's another ordinary day in the Watterson house. Well, except for one difference.

Richard sits on his favorite spot of the couch, clicking away on the TV remote. Not finding anything he liked, he continued clicking, the idea being that that could change.

He pauses to glance down as Gumball crawls across the floor in front of him. He watches as he passes by slowly, eventually entering the kitchen and returning with two bowls.

"Is today slug day?" Richard asks on his second pass.

"I guess," Gumball says as Nicole enters the room.

Nicole stops when she notices Gumball on the floor with a bowl on his back.

"Darwin, hurry up! We're gonna be late for school!"

Darwin slowly crawls into the room, a box of cereal and gallon of milk in tow. Gumball hands him a bowl and begins pouring in the cereal while Darwin adds the milk. After their own bowls are filled, they switch and begin filling with the other's.

"Uh, what are you doing?"

"Eating cereal, what's it look like?"

Nicole sighs, "I mean, why are you crawling on the ground?"

"It's slug day," Richard answers, returning to his channel surfing.

"Slug day?"

Darwin nods, "That's how Lexy crawled into the bathroom this morning."

"She was crawling?"

"Yeah, but she was groaning like a zombie," Gumball added before swallowing a spoonful of cereal, "I don't think she knows how a slug sounds."

"Maybe we should check on her."

Richard's so focused on the TV, he didn't hear the suggestion.

Nicole sighs, "I'll go check on her."

"Yeah, you do that."

Walking up the stairs, she knocks on the bathroom door, "Lexy, are you alright?"

The door opens and the pink form of Lexy crawls out of the bathroom, her black T-shirt and dark blue skirt the only sign of her attempt to get ready for school.

"Are you feeling okay, sweetie?"

Lexy's answer is muffled by the floor her face is buried in, unable to lift her head from the lack of strength.

Kneeling down, Nicole feels her forehead, the degree of heat enough to pull her hand back.

"Honey, you're burning up!"

"No, it's the floor," she answers weakly, "The floor's just really hot."

"The floor is hot because of you laying on it."

"Well…"

Nicole sighs and picks her up, "That's it, you're staying home today."

"Don't make me stay home! I'm fine! Drop me, I'll land on my feet!"

Obeying, she lets her go. Instead of nimbly landing on her feet, she face-plants into the floor.

"Ow."

"Get back in bed, I'm going to go call a doctor."

Realizing that arguing with her mother would be an uphill battle, she sighs and crawls into her bed.

"Fine."

"Good," Nicole says while walking to the door, "I'll be back with some soup."

Pulling the door closed, she returns to the living room, "Lexy's staying home today."

"What?!" Gumball shouts, "Why does she get to stay home?"

"Because, she has a fever."

Gumball turns around and begins rubbing his forehead.

"I have a fever too!"

Nicole shakes her head, "No, you just have a case of thinking I'm an idiot."

"It's worse than I thought! It's un-curable!"

Upon hearing the insult, Nicole's face begins to slowly change from it's usual blue to that of an angry red.

"I think I hear the silent alarm for the bus," Darwin shouts as he quickly pulls Gumball toward the door.

As soon as the door slams shut, Nicole blinks back to her normal self.

"I'm going to go make some soup and try to get ahold of a doctor."

Still enraptured by the TV, Richard nods absentmindedly.

**[][][]**

"We should be able to stay home too!"

"Well, she's actually sick," Darwin replies, rummaging through the papers in his backpack while the bus rolls along the road..

"Even so," Gumball mumbles, settling for staring at the back of the seat.

"What I'm worried about is the math test today, she had all of our notes."

Gumball's eyes widen in realization that his sister had all of their work.

"She had the notes, our English reports, and the project for Social Studies!"

"And the drawings for Art, and the three page essay on what we want to be in the future for Mr. Small!"

"Why does she have all our work, anyway?" Gumball asks, a mixture of panic and confusion wavering in his voice.

"Because," Darwin begins, "She's smart and does our work for free unlike Anais who charges us?"

"That sounds about right," Gumball said with a nod, "But that doesn't help the fact that we have ten minutes to study and redo all our homework."

"Or we could look in her locker. I don't remember her bringing her backpack home yesterday."

"Hmm, we could, but we'd need to find the combination or another way to get into it."

"Her boyfriend might have her combination," Darwin suggests.

"Yeah, like I'm going to ask that psycho for anything."

Darwin's eyes widen and he slowly leans to the side while Gumball continues shouting.

"First of all, what kind of a name is Blast? It's like something out of a lame fantasy novel!"

Darwin begins shaking his head and giving the signal to be quiet.

"Second, he's always-" Gumball begins but stops when he feels the piercing eyes of the wolf staring at him, "He's right behind me… isn't he?"

Darwin nods grimly, his mouth froze in a perpetual whimper.

Gumball turns around slowly and laughs, "Blast! How's it going, buddy? Where'd you get those jeans? They look great!"

"Where's Lexy?" he asks without taking his eyes from the nervous duo.

"Oh, her? She stayed home today."

"Why?"

Gumball quickly turns around, "Dude, what should we tell him?!"

"If we tell him she's sick, he might go crazy and throw through the window," Darwin whispers back, "If we lie, he might go crazy and through use through the window."

"Well, which is it?!"

"I don't know, but it's really suspicious that we keep whispering to each other."

Gumball sighs and faces him, "Actually, she had a tiny, small, not so important fever this morning, so-"

Upon hearing his answer, Blast pushes them aside and jumps through the window, "Lexy, I'm coming!"

Forgetting he had just leapt from a moving vehicle, he lands in a heap on the sidewalk and rolls to a stop.

"Next time," he says while he struggles to his feet, "Wait for the bus to stop…"

"You're insane, you dumb idiot!" Gumball shouts through the window as the bus continues driving.

"I'll deal with you later!"

Gumball gasps and quickly closes the window.

**[][][]**

Nicole sighed and dropped onto the couch beside her husband, "Apparently doctors don't make house calls anymore."

"Uh-huh."

"I went to take in some soup but she was already asleep."

"Uh-huh."

"Can you at least pretend to be concerned about your daughter being sick?"

Richard sighed, "You're making a big deal out of nothing. The best cure for a fever is rest and staying away from the government sanctioned learning building."

"I don't know…"

"The only thing you can do is let it run it's course. Besides, she strong like you, right?"

"Aww," Nicole said as she leaned over and kissed her husband, "That's sweet, honey. You're right, maybe I'm worrying about nothing."

**[][][]**

Lexy stretched herself awake and took in her surroundings, confusion overwhelming her when instead of her room she finds herself in a colorful forest.

Curiosity propelling her, she ventures outward from the clearing she awoke in and fought through the dense brush and foliage. After several minutes of walking, the shadowed gathering of trees began to brighten as rays of sun begin to pierce through the holes in the canopy above. Every step she traveled, the temperature began to increase as if assuring her she was traveling in the right direction.

She suddenly realized that her trek had became easier than when she started, the close, suffocating vegetation receding into a less prevalent nuisance.

"What's that," she asked herself out loud when the faint outline of a house appears in the distance.

The forest ended abruptly, leaving her awe struck in the scenery that suddenly appeared in front of her.

The house was built on the crest of a small hill overlooking a large, rolling plain. The faint rumble of water crashing against land informed a beach was beyond the hill. The colorless clouds drift across a vivid blue sky, their lazy movements promising a warm, rainless day.

Now out of the claustrophobic forest, the house was in full view. It's support structure was built from the segmented trunk of a tree taken from the forest, it's dull and dingy hue a sign of it's age. The walls were made from planks coated in a sap based sealant and the roof consisted of trimmed and squared sheets of bark.

"Whoa," she said, her voice nearly deafening after the long period of silence.

"What?"

She looked to her left and seen a large squirrel sitting on a tree branch, looking at her confusedly.

"Did you say something?"

"How's it going?"

"Good…" she answered.

"I can't complain myself," he said with a chuckle.

"Where am I?"

"How about those… sports… teams?" It asked, ignoring her question completely.

"Huh?"

"Music then," he said, "What music you listen to?"

She looked at the strange creature for several moments before deciding to investigate the house.

"Yeah, I'm gonna go take a look at the house."

"Sure, don't talk to the squirrel! Everybody's in too much of a rush to talk to Gary!"

"Sorry, Gary, but I really don't know where I am, so I'd like to go find out," she said, worried she'd offended him.

Gary sighed, "It's just, I climbed all the way up here and waited for someone to come walking by, but no one's been through in the past week."

"I really have to get back home, but I'll come back and talk to you before I go."

"Are you cereal?"

She nodded, "Yes, I'm super cereal."

Gary's face lit up, "Okay then, I'll be waiting right here!"

Waving, she started the trek to the distant house, the faint scratching of music becoming audible as she approached.

"Hello?" she called out as she rounded the house.

There was a burst of laughter, or squawking, coming from the group of penguins seated around a large red and white mushroom.

The group was so enraptured in their discussion, they hadn't noticed the pink cat approach them. When their fit of laughter ended, they began to speak, only their words were backwards and sounded like they were being played in reverse.

"!mih ot klat dna kcab emoc d'I deveileb yllaer lerriuqs eht dnA"

The laughter returned, leaving Lexy confused at the jumble of words.

Just as suddenly as they'd spoke, they turned and looked at her. Surprised at the sudden movement, she stumbled backwards and narrowly avoided falling.

Then, they disappeared, taking with them the fluffy clouds and warm sun while leaving behind a pale, sickly colored sky. Her heartbeat began racing as she backed away, afraid to take her eyes off of the now moldy and wrinkled table.

Turning to retreat into the forest, the sight of the house stopped her.

The once beautiful and well maintained house was now a frightening and decrepit hovel. The walls were cracked and the support beams were tilting under the weight of the roof.

"Blast, where are you when I need you?"

**[][][]**

Answering the knock at the door, Nicole found herself staring at the form of a scratched and bruised Blast.

"Uh… Can I help you?"

"Yes, hello," he answers as politely as he can, "Can I talk to Lexy?"

"Shouldn't you be in school?"

"Shouldn't you be at work?"

"I have a sick child, that's more important than work."

"So, can I come in?"

"Give me three good reasons why I should let you inside," she said while crossing her arms.

"One, I'm a really nice guy."

She shakes her head, "I wouldn't know that."

"Two, I'm your daughter's boyfriend."

This time, she cracked her knuckles, "That's really not helping your argument."

"Lastly, we both know I'll get inside one way or the other," he said menacingly.

"That may be true, but it won't be through the front door," she said while slamming the door in his face.

"Ow," he mumbled as he peeled himself from the door.

Stepping off the porch, he started looking over the outside of the house.

"Well, the hard way it is, then."

**[][][]**

Gumball took several deep breaths and charged at the locker again, colliding face first into the steel door. Rolling across the hall from the force of impact, he struggled to his feet and leaned against the wall.

"I think it's starting to give," he mumbled to Darwin, "Just another couple hundred more and it'll be open!"

"We should try something else."

Gumball began coughing, sending a barrage of teeth onto the floor, "I am running out of teeth… What'd you have in mind?"

"Why don't we ask Principal Brown to open it? I mean, he does have all the combinations written down."

Gumball sighed, "Poor, dimwitted Darwin. Always thinking the wheat cares about the chaff."

"But-"

"Not now, Darwin! An idea is coming to me! That little keyhole in the middle of the lock resets the combination, right?"

"Right."

"So," Gumball shouts happily, "We can just reset the combination!"

"But, we'll have to get the key from Principal Brown anyway. Wouldn't it be easier to-"

Gumball interrupts him and starts running down the hallway, "Come on! We need to find some rope!"

Darwin sighs and slowly follows, knowing his concerns would most likely remain unheard.

**[][][]**

Standing inside the house, Lexy looked through the window as the rain continued pelting down. The torrent had started as abruptly as the penguins had disappeared and showed no sign of leaving the same way. So, with nothing else to do, she began exploring the house.

The inside wasn't much better than the outside, but at least it should do for the time being. The walls were in the kitchen were blackened from a long past fire, and the walls surrounding the doorway were still covered in soot from the experience.

"This is weird," she mumbled out loud.

Everything was familiar, but strangely unknown. The toys occupying the floor, the dust and acid soaked TV in the corner, even the furniture gave her the impression she'd been here before.

Then she saw it, a brief flicker as if someone tried to change the channel. It lasted only a second, but it was long enough to show what it needed to.

In that change, the house was back to the healthy and stable condition it was only minutes ago.

"So, now you see?"

She spun around and found herself still staring at an empty room, the source of the voice nowhere to be found.

"Don't bother looking," the voice boomed in response, "I'm far more than a tangible being."

Her mouth moved to speak, but she ultimately lacked the ability.

"There is something you must see, experience, understand."

A loud crash of thunder shook the house, knocking several pictures and other nic-nacs from the many shelves onto the floor. Among them was a dynamo flashlight, it's beam igniting as it landed and focused on the far corner.

Picking it up, she worked the button several times while watching it obediently respond. Pointing it back at the corner it had just illuminated, she took in the sight of the trapdoor, her memory being flooded by her memories of what lied beyond it.

And it all began with a step.

**[][][]**

Pulling the fork from the sausage, Blast pulled on the string and raised it back into view of the window.

"I'll get you, magical flying sausage!" Richard yelled as he closed his left eye and threw the fork, embedding it into the sausage.

Blast quickly lowered it and likewise removed the fork.

'_What an idiot,' _he thought as he raised it for the fourth time.

Again, the fork stuck into the sausage.

'This should be enough.'

Lowering it for the last time, he gathered his forks and untied the sausage. Cutting the string into four pieces, he began tying the forks to his arms and legs.

Laughing about how ingenious his plan was, he steps to the side of the house. Looking up, he claps his hands together and takes a deep breath before stabbing the first fork into the wall.

Stretching to test how much weight it will hold, he moves on to the next, continuing until he is off the ground.

'_Alright, so far so good.'_

Keeping his movements precise and steady, he proceeds to pull himself up the wall, reaching the roof in no time. As he starts to pull himself over the edge, however, the full weight of his body remained on the right leg, causing the prongs to bend.

With nothing to keep grip on his leg, he slips and falls back to the ground, the impact leaving him breathless.

"Ow-w-w-w-w," he shouts, but the lack of oxygen makes it sound like a gasp.

When the ability to breath and walk returns, he pulls himself up and leans against the house. After another moment of rest, he begins limping toward the back door.

"Plan B it is."

**[][][]**

"You know that will never work again, right?" Darwin said while they walked back to Lexy's locker.

Gumball nodded smugly and raised the key, "It doesn't have to."

Stopping at the locker, they look at it confusedly.

"So, how does it work?"

"Well, I'd assume you just put it in and turn."

Gumball slid the key into the hole and turned it to the left.

"Now we change the combination," Gumball said as he began to randomly spin the lock.

"And it should open."

Lifting the handle, the locker ceased to open.

"Well?"

Gumball shrugged, "It's not opening."

"Maybe you need to turn it to the right."

Obeying, Gumball quickly jerks the key in the opposite direction while spinning the knob, resulting in snapping it in half.

The looked in horror at the stub of the key in Gumball's hand and the small, silver piece of the key protruding from the keyhole.

"The key broke."

Gumball nods, "Yeah."

"And in addition to not knowing the original combination, we don't know the new combination."

"Yes."

"So now, no one, not even Principal Brown, can open the locker."

"It looks that way."

Darwin puts his arms onto his head and breathes deeply.

"What if we-"

"No, we're doing my idea!" he shouts, startling Gumball into silence.

Stomping down the hall, Darwin turns the corner and disappears for a moment. After a minute or so, he returns with Carrie following behind him.

"So, what, we scare the locker open?"

Carrie sighs, "Amateurs."

Closing her eyes, she possesses the lock and begins to disengage the tumblers. Mere seconds later, the door swings open and she jumps back into the hallway.

"Was that it?"

Darwin nods happily, "Yep. Thanks, Carrie!"

"Whatever," she said with a sigh, floating back down the hallway.

"I still think we should have asked Principal Brown," Gumball says as he grabs the backpack.

Darwin begins shaking, his face flushing with fury. Shoving Gumball into the locker, he jerks the backpack out of his hands and slams the door.

"Come on! Let me out!"

"Sorry," Darwin said while he stormed away, "I don't know the combination!"

**[][][]**

'_It's not breaking in if the door's unlocked,' _he thought as he turned the handle and pushed the kitchen door open enough to peek inside.

Finding the coast clear, he slid inside and slowly walked to the entrance to the living room. A glance around the corner showed Richard had returned to watching TV.

Blast started forward, moving slow enough to keep from making noise and to avoid and sudden movement. However, a misplaced doll found it's way under his foot. As he stepped on it, the doll began loudly singing a programmed song.

Surprisingly, Richard's attention was still on the screen.

"Phew," Blast said quietly.

Richard's head snapped toward him instantly, watching him with a mixture of confusion and surprise.

"Uh, Nicole?"

From somewhere in the house comes a faint voice, "I'm doing laundry, dear. What is it?"

Richard blinks, "Did Gumball have a pet dog?"

"…no, why?"

Blast nervously begins emptying his pockets, finding nothing but a sausage and a bent fork. Raising the sausage, Richard's mouth begins to water as he leans forward.

"Ah, ah, ah," Blast says with a shake of his finger.

Richard swallows and shakes his head, "No reason!"

Blast nods and tosses him the sausage while running toward the stairs.

"Yes!" Richard shouts as he grabs it, "You are mine, magical sausage!"

'_What an idiot,' _Blast thinks as he reaches the door to Lexy's room.

**[][][]**

"Nope!" Lexy shouts as she climbs through the trapdoor and slams it shut, "Nope! I'm done!"

Back in the main room, she turns off the flashlight and walks to the door. Still hearing the dull thud of the rain, she steps outside and closes her eyes.

The rain disappears in favor of the sunshine, and the clouds recede, the only evidence of it being otherwise was the damp ground.

She begins stomping back toward the forest, numb to everything except the flashlight in her hand. Not bothering to glance back at the house, she maneuvers around a fallen tree and begins her trek into the forest.

"Hey!"

She stops upon hearing the voice and turns to see Gary sitting in the same tree he was earlier.

"You're not leaving, are you?"

She sighed, "Yes, Gary, I am."

"Oh," he says sadly while looking down.

Looking at the flashlight, she hold it out to him, "Here, I brought you this."

Gary begins looking it over, "What is it?"

"Push the button."

Gary obeyed and is blinded as the light turns on.

"Wow!" he says with a blink, "That's bright!"

"Yeah. When it goes dim you have to turn the crank."

"Thanks! I'm afraid of the dark, so this will help a lot."

Lexy forced a smile and nodded, "Glad you like it."

"No one's ever given me anything before," Gary said happily, setting the flashlight beside him, "So, I'll tell you how to get out of here."

"You know how to get out of here?"

He nodded, "Yeah, it's just, no one comes here a lot, besides the jerk penguins, so I thought if you stayed for awhile you wouldn't want to leave."

"I have to go," she said while taking a step toward him, "I have a family, friends, even a boyfriend!"

Gary sighed, "Yeah, I know. Anyway, this is form of protection. This place gives your mind somewhere to go while your body recovers."

"So, the changing of the weather and surroundings?"

Gary nods, "That was your mind responding to the sickness. First the fever, then the chills. You should be just about recovered."

"Then what was the voice I was hearing, and the basement? They were so familiar, but I couldn't figure them out?"

Gary tilted his head, not understanding what she meant, "Voice?"

"Yeah, I know I've heard it before a long time ago."

Eventually Gary shrugs, "It must be a memory that you repressed. It's best to leave it that way, it isn't good to go rooting around in your head."

"I guess that makes sense."

"Anyway," he said, turning to face the direction of the forest she had entered from, "All you have to do is go back to the clearing you awoke in."

"That's it?"

Gary nodded, "Pretty much. You should be able to figure it out from there."

"Okay, thanks Gary. See you around!"

"Not if you're lucky," he said with a wave as she returned to stepping between the trees.

**[][][]**

Her eyes snapped open as she sat up and began searching the room. The posters and color of the walls assured her it was her own.

She sighed happily and dropped back onto the bed, rubbing her damp hair and tired eyes.

"You're awake."

She turns and sees Blast sitting in a chair beside her bed, "Blast!"

Quickly leaping from her bed, she wraps her arms around him and buries her head into his chest.

"Geez, it's only been a day," he said while returning the embrace.

"I'm just so glad to see you."

"Well you wouldn't be if it wasn't for your lazy father," he said with a laugh.

She can smell the grass in his hair and notices the dirt marks on his jacket.

"You tried climbing in, didn't you?"

He shrugged, "Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time."

Shaking her head, she kissed him on the cheek and sat on the edge of the bed, "Did you forget what happened last time?"

Blast smiled, "Last time I used spoons, this time he threw forks. He's getting smarter, I'll give him that."

Lexy laughed and wiped sweat form her forehead.

Leaning forward, Blast used the back of his hand to check her temperature, "You still have a fever."

She nodded and laid back on the bed, "Yeah, but I feel a lot better now."

* * *

Alright, I'm going to cut it here.

lexboss, sorry this took so long to get finished, and I hope you liked it.

I tried to include her character's origin while remaining vague enough to keep from ruining it by any inaccuracies. So, that's it for this one. Have to get caught up on my other work.

Thanks for reading, everyone.


End file.
